Muar and Back

It went according to plan. My parents joined me at the apartment before we drive down to Muar in glorious sunshine to attend my cousin's wedding. But unfortunately I couldn't make it any earlier and by the time we reached Kesang Laut, one of the famous ritual was done. It was called the toll.

Basically, when the party from the groom arrived at the bride's house, they had to pass trough a series of toll, members of the bride's family would actually stop then from passing through unless some amount of money - or gift - were passed. They may also have to sing or reply verses of pantun, and only then they were allowed to proceed.

And usually there was never a single toll. Yesterday, there four of them. Done in good spirit, it was a sight to behold. A real tongue twister at times, perfected into an art.

We missed all that though.

The other thing I noticed about weddings in Johor, was this lot loved their singing. There was always live bands. And oh boy, they really could carry a tune.

We could stay for too long due to the combination of having to return to KL before its dark and my nieces were getting restless. My boys and Anita didn't come along as they were attending a wedding and a birthday party in KL. Not to mention that they had their swimming lessons as well that afternoon.

We left Muar just before 4, a quick stop for Solat and reached KL by 6.30. The traffic was light as clearly the balik kampung crowd were still chilling back home. The road was empty and the weather was great. I then joined Anita and the boys at the Club, taking them to dinner before home. A nice productive day indeed.

The Engagement in Muar

We finally checked-out and left for Muar just after mid-day. The check-out was long than usual as the reception sent a staff over to the villa to make sure that everyone had evacuated. That took an extra 10 minutes.

The trip down to Muar took just over an hour. We thought that we were late, but it turned out that the party for the engagement set off a bit later, finally arriving an hour late. Therefore, we spent the time with the grumpy boys. By luckily they had their iPads with them, making them a bit more content.

The engagement went without a hitch. The fiancée is my first cousin, and the ceremony was held at my Uncle's place. Originally from Penang, he married lady from Muar and settled there ever since. He has three daughters and a son. The son got married last year. Today was the engagement of his third child. As per tradition, since she has an elder sister yet to be married, there would be gift for the said sister.

We left soon after the ceremony was done since we would be driving straight back home to KL, reaching Gombak just after six. Next on the agenda, football .....

Quick Trip to Muar

Last night, before the football match ended, I received a phone call from my Dad. One of our relatives passed away within the last couple of hours and he asked if I could drive him and Mum to Muar to attend the funeral the next day. So, this morning after Subuh prayers, we set off southbound.

It took us about 3 hours to reach the place as I have never been there before. We were lucky that my trusty old iPhone with PaPaGo worked like a treat. We reached there before the prayers, and most of the local folks were already gathered at the house, preparing the body for burial.

After prayers, the rest of the relatives set off for the cemetery, located about 10 km away. We decided to stay at the house, greeting the rest of the relatives who were left behind.

The elderly relative who passed away was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. Being in his 80s, he was just given symptomatic treatment, and was at home surrounded by his loves ones when he drew his last breath. One of my cousin who was working in Sibu did not manage to get home in time - she arrived just 10 minutes too late unfortunately.

It was customary to give tokens to those attending the funeral Prayers. Here, the family distributed sarongs.Alfatihah.

Cousin's Wedding in Muar

Cousin's Wedding in Muar 1, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

Made a round trip to Muar today, some 200 km from home. I attended one of my cousin's wedding. Initially I was reluctant to travel due to the pandemic and all, but I finally gave in to my Mum.

We hit out at around 11am, stopped for a quick drink as my nephew, Imran was hungry. We managed to get lost on the way over there as the last time we went there was some 4 years ago. We got there by 1.30, had lunch, then it started poring down.

The rain eased off just in time for the wedding procession to arrive. I was also surprised as there was a live band playing. In KL, especially in house kenduri, there are usually karaoke, or people attempting at karaoke, but today there were some serious singers and musicians. And they were good, or at least I thought they were.

A sign I saw on the way hone ... Pedas!We left shortly after the procession arrive as the return trip will take another couple of hours at the very least, and it looked like it was going to rain again. I finally arrived home, after dropping my Mum at around 6. Flipped through the channel and was disappointed to find that they were not showing the World Athletics live on Astro. Quick check on the YouTube to watch clip of Bolt and Gay in the heats. The second round will be later tonight. Oh! And there is a small matter of The English Premier League back on the tubes! United is only playing tomorrow though, so the season has not started until then in earnest.